RIO DE JANEIRO, June 29 (Reuters) - The former CEO of

retail giant Americanas, wanted in Brazil in

connection with a $4.5 billion alleged accounting fraud, was

free in Madrid, his lawyers said on Saturday, one day after his

arrest by Spanish police.

Miguel Gutierrez was included in Interpol's wanted list after a

Rio de Janeiro court issued an arrest warrant against him and

Brazilian police are seeking his extradition from Spain.

Gutierrez, who led Americanas for more than two decades until

December 2022, is being investigated in Brazil as part of a

probe into a 25.3 billion-real ($4.5 billion) alleged accounting

fraud that led the firm to file for bankruptcy in January 2023.

Gutierrez's legal defense team said in a statement he is at his

residence in Madrid at an address known to the Spanish and

Brazilian authorities and where "he has always been available to

the various bodies interested in ongoing investigations."

Spanish police said its organized crime unit had arrested

Gutierrez, wanted by Brazil through Interpol, for the crime of

"aggravated fraud".

His lawyers said he had never participated or known about

any fraud during his time running the retailer and will be able

to defend himself against the "allegations arising from false

statements regarding him."

Brazilian federal police sources told Reuters they have

started extradition proceedings for Gutierrez, though one

official familiar with the matter said extradition could be

difficult because Gutierrez has dual Brazilian and Spanish

citizenship.

Americanas, one of Brazil's largest online and

brick-and-mortar retailers, has long been controlled by three

Brazilian billionaires who founded 3G Capital - Jorge Paulo

Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira.

The company last year had accused Gutierrez and half a dozen

other former employees of taking part in a fraud scheme.

The judge in Rio de Janeiro who ordered his arrest, as well

as the search and seizure of evidence in the homes of 14 former

Americanas executives, said in a warrant seen by Reuters that

police had provided convincing proof of insider trading and

market manipulation.

The executives under investigation fraudulently altered the

company's results to increase its share price, the judge wrote,

citing the police probe.

The judge added that when the revelation of alleged fraud

became imminent, Gutierrez sold shares worth 171.7 million reais

before the stock price plummeted.

Federal police investigators have called it "the biggest

fraud in the history of Brazil's financial market."